🎙️ In this episode, Craig Birch exposes one of the most dangerous and overlooked misconfigurations in Active Directory: the PasswordNotRequired attribute.
Most AD admins assume password policies apply to all accounts — but this hidden flag allows accounts to exist with blank passwords, silently bypassing domain-wide protections. Attackers know it. Many admins don’t.
🔍 What You’ll Learn:• What the PasswordNotRequired attribute really does
• How it overrides password length, complexity, and history policies
• Which accounts are most at risk (including service and trust accounts)
• Why this setting leads to instant compromise with no brute-force required
• How to identify and fix vulnerable accounts with PowerShell🛠️ PowerShell Spotlight:# Detect accounts with PasswordNotRequired flag set
Get-ADUser -Filter * -Properties userAccountControl |
Where-Object { ($_.userAccountControl -band 0x0020) } |
Select-Object Name, SamAccountName
# Optional: Clear the flag (example)
Set-ADUser username -PasswordNotRequired $false
âś… Use this to find and lock down accounts silently skipping your password policy.
âś… Quick Takeaways:
This setting bypasses all domain password policy enforcement
Common on legacy accounts, service accounts, or through bad provisioning
Easy path to account compromise and privilege escalation
Most AD auditing tools don’t flag it — but attackers know it’s there
Fix it fast using PowerShell and GPO cleanup
💬 Found this helpful? Like, share, or comment. Want a specific AD risk explained in 10 minutes or less? Drop your request below — we’re listening.
📌 Powered by Guardians of the Directory
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.